I did this painting to celebrate the rich purple colours of the Caerbwdi rock that was used to form St David’s Cathedral. It is a sandstone from the Cambrian period (named from the latin for Cymru/Wales) and found on a very specific stretch of the Pembrokeshire coastline outcropping on the cliffs between Solva and St Davids. It was laid down in the time of Gondwanaland about 500 million years ago when there was an evolutionary explosion of multicellular organisms. Overlain by the younger grey-greens of the Solva sandstones.

My Dad loved the colours and managed to access some of the stone for our gateposts at Llanunwas, Solva where we now have an art gallery. This particular view I managed to find just east of Caerbwdi valley but it was quite a precarious edging along the narrow ridge to view the drops into the clear seas either side and I was quite relieved when I had finished the plein-air bit!

oil on gessoed board in a grey wood frame which brings out some of the Solva rocks, size 1130 x 830mm including frame